The Shire
by Anonymonimus
Summary: Thorin and company only wanted to pass through to find employment in the Blue Mountains. Instead, they found themselves in The Shire, cursed and abandoned by all non-Hobbits for a reason. But they've been found out. They know. They hunger.
1. Prologue

We wait, we wait, we wait,

For visitors to come at our door

We wait, we wait, we wait,

But none dare come anymore

We hunger, we hunger, we hunger,

Oh please, will you not come feast?

We hunger, we hunger, we hunger,

We cannot feed in absence of thee

A knock, a knock, a knock,

Our wait has not been for naught

A knock, a knock, a knock,

Do get ready, less we're caught

Do sit, do sit, do sit,

We have long awaited this day

Do stay, do stay, do stay,

You'll never leave this place

We dance, we dance, we dance,

With you, in the midst of our gyre,

We dance, we dance, we dance,

Oh how we love _The Shire_


	2. Welcome

**Aiming for creepiness and horror xP**

**Tell me how I'm doing ;P**

**Comment and fav if you enjoyed :D Helps me know if I should keep this going :)**

* * *

Few do truly know about the Shire. It's described as a utopia, perfect and lovely. But it's cursed. And all those who enter, never leave and are never seen again.

* * *

Thorin has gone through a series of hard times. His home was taken away by a horrible dragon, his grandfather and brother have died in a hopeless war to retake the mines of Moria, his father had disappeared in the midst of the chaos, and, six months ago, his sister had died, leaving the care of her two sons, Fíli and Kíli, in his hands. But Thorin was poor and struggling. He had lost everything and he didn't know how he would be able to see to the well-being of the last of his family. And yet, the thought of leaving the boys in the care of a random family, as was offered quite a few times, was an unthinkable thought.

He travelled far and wide and make ends meet and received helped from the most unlikely of individuals. By the time the first month had passed since the death of his sister, he had assembled nine friends and companions who helped him raise the boys and fill their stomachs with as much food as they needed. Of those nine friends, three were in a very similar situation as he. Dori and Nori both took care of their younger brother Ori – who was older than Kíli but younger than Fíli – as best as they could, and Gloin who had his son Gimli and partially deaf brother, Oin, who was very old in age. To them, he was the closest for they understood his trials and could relate to his situation. They were also the first of his friends that he met during his travels.

Following them were Dwalin and Balin, old warriors that had fought by his side at Moria and had never left him since then. He had known them for many years but their relationship was much different and distant compared to that of Dori, Nori and Gloin, but their company was much appreciated all the same and they did contribute greatly to the education of the children.

After that there was Bifur, Bofur, and Bombur, a family of toymakers and ex-miners that had dropped their initial profession following Bifur's incident permanently incapacitating his speech and attention span. Bofur and Bombur did take great care of their cousin but it was a situation much different for Bifur was not a child and could still function independently without them. Nonetheless, they had decided to tag along for business was bad where they had previously lived and hoped to find more money elsewhere just like the rest of them.

All fourteen of them formed a sort of fellowship, or rather a bizarre family that collectively depended on one another and it seemed as though it worked just fine. The little ones were properly fed and the adults got more food than they would have if they fended for themselves individually. They were happy but living like nomads was tiring and the Dwarves wished to settle down. Thus, once the children were asleep, they gathered to discuss what they should do next.

"I don't think their education is in peril," Balin stated, peering over and the sleeping little ones, "Seeing the world when I teach them about cultures, races, geography and history is a rare opportunity and eases the comprehension of certain things."

"But we're getting older," Gloin stated, "And though we're fine now, travelling will become more difficult with every passing year."

"Let's not forget the dangers of wandering," Dwalin added, "We're lucky that, so far, we haven't encountered a group of bandits, Orcs, or anything equally horrible. But our luck is bound to run out at some point."

"As for developing relationships," Dori said, "They're very secluded in their options, which is also our case. We can't befriend others or seek their help unless they are or were in the same situation and understand our plight."

"But we're doing alright," Nori declared, "We don't necessarily need the help of others."

"You can't deny it could be of use at some point!" Dori retorted immediately, "As for the children, it's as though they're only permitted to fraternize with their brothers. They're always together and so they're not exposed to a variety of people which will be of use to them in the future! They need to meet other people and learn how to deal with them otherwise it could be problematic for them at some point."

"I hate to say it, but it's true." Bofur chimed, "Especially for young Kíli. He's quite energetic and troublesome at times, no offence Thorin, but he needs to understand that not everyone will pardon his rowdiness as we do. He needs to know there are people that won't tolerate his actions and so he needs to develop a sensitivity to that."

"I agree," Thorin said, and seeing as he was the leader figure of the group, everyone paid high attention to what he was saying, "However, we can't provide for them properly and ourselves if we decide to settle down in a village or town with little promise of work. We need to find a place that will never run out of work opportunity and only once we've found it, can we find a home. Until then, we must keep travelling. At the moment, we're not too old and we're in shape. The kids are also still quite young which means that their social sensitivities won't be too badly affected because they're still incredibly new to the world. We do need to find a place to live but I don't think it's an immediate concern nor is it our biggest. We just need to concentrate on finding employment."

Thus, the debate was concluded for the Dwarves believed in Thorin's better judgment. Before retiring for the night, Thorin had also announced that they would be heading to the Blue Mountains where Dain had told him many possibilities lied. If everything went well, they would soon fine their new home but they would first have to reach their destination.

The next day, they packed their things and continued with their journey. The children were in a good mood, running around, falling and giggling, it seemed that the weight they carried on their backs couldn't slow them down. And though Dori constantly nagged after Ori to be careful, he still found himself smiling at his little brother's glee. Perhaps being a nomad wasn't such a bad thing.

It was around noon when they arrived to a certain region of the world abundant in life. None of them had been told by anyone about this place filled with green hills, flowers, butterflies, and chirping birds. And as they continued on the path, they found that adorable houses had been built in the hills. They all had round doors painted in various colors, a front garden with either vegetables or flowers, and a petit fence on which one could find a round mail box. It had seem as though they had accidentally found a village of some kind but there were no villagers around to greet them yet.

Then, they turned the corner and came face to face with the most bizarre creature any of them had ever seen. He was like a miniature Elf, barely smaller than a Dwarf, with hairy feet and large pointy ears. The little man seemed absolutely horrified by their presence for he paled considerably upon seeing them.

"It's almost noon…" he muttered, peering at the sun, "What are you doing here? You're not supposed to be here—"

The sudden rise of voices and giggling coming from behind the company interrupted him and he seemed all the more nervous. It was almost as though he wanted to run away but, upon catching sight of the children, he found himself unable to leave. He paused for a second and made a decision, the impact of which was unknown to all of them for a long time.

"Come quick!" He hissed hurriedly, "Don't make a sound and don't ask questions until I give you permission to speak!"

"Wh—"

"Do you want to die!?" He interrupted, shutting up anyone who had had the idea to speak previously, "Now hurry! We don't have much time!"

Though confused and spooked, they followed the strange creature without hesitation. However, they should have paid better attention to the children because, in all the excitement, Gimli had dropped his stuffed warg and thus it was abandoned in the road.

They got to the biggest hill, or so they assumed, in the region. It was particularly beautiful but none of them had enough time to remember the lovely details – other than the green door. The creature opened it nervously, constantly glancing at the road for fear of seeing whatever it was they were running from. Once all the Dwarves had entered, he peered around one last time before hiding in his home as well.

"Don't make a sound." He reminded in a whisper as he pushed pass them and ventured deeper in his home. He got to his cellar and opened a secret hatch, "Get in. I'll come back for you when it's safe. Until then, remain quiet."

And though the adults wanted to protest, the fear in their children's eyes were enough to render them silent and continue obeying the hairy creature's orders. They entered, and even if they were crammed, they all fit. The creature closed the hatch and pushed something above. Only when his steps trailed away from the cellar room did they hear violent knocks at the door.

The creature nervously peered back at the location where the Dwarves were hidden. He wondered if it was well enough and if it would suffice but there was no time to change anything. He swallowed heavily and hastily fixed his clothes and hair before opening the door.

"Lobelia…" he said slowly though he was unable to hide his discontent, "What do you want?"

She smiled icily and cocked her head, "You weren't at the meet again, cousin." She stated, and though she sounded pleasant, a threat lingered behind her words. "Why?"

"I was taking care of my garden." He replied.

"You didn't happen to see a visitor pass by, did you?" Lobelia asked, her smile thinning.

"No." he answered immediately. "I didn't. Why?"

"We found this." She said, showing a doll warg, which made his blood freeze, "Which means that our visitor is either a lost child or, as the majority hopes, a wandering duo with a child."

"I…I see…" he muttered.

"Here. You like these don't you?" Lobelia tossed the tattered toy to her cousin who caught it at the last moment. "You spend too much time in your garden, Bilbo Baggins." She said with reproach, "We're starting to think you're becoming too Took-ish…"

"I'm not." Bilbo said, staring at the little warg.

"Then don't miss our next meet." Lobelia said, "It might be the final straw if you do. Especially if we don't catch our visitors by then."

And without a word of goodbye, Lobelia turned her heels and left, muttering a song that Bilbo hated above all other things in the world.

_We hunger, we hunger, we hunger,_

_Oh please, will you not come feast?_

_We hunger, we hunger, we hunger,_

_We cannot feed in absence of thee_

He closed the door slowly and locked it quietly. Pressing his forehead against it as he sighed deeply and clutched the warg-doll tighter. He waited a moment before wandering by his window and freezing in his track upon seeing two farmers staring directly at him with blank smiles and threatening eyes. He cleared his throat and continued to his kitchen where he began preparation for dinner until the farmers left.

Once he felt safe enough, he wandered to his cellar and freed the Dwarves hidden beneath the floor. Then, he angrily threw the stuffed warg at their feet. "Who dropped this!?" He snapped.

"Wiggy!" Gimli cheered as he hurried to pick his precious toy with his chubby hands.

"We'd like to know what we were hiding from for so long." Thorin declared as Gimli retreated to his friends.

"From my people." Bilbo said grimly. "Hobbits."

"Why are they so dangerous?" Dwalin asked, "And how can we trust _you_?"

"Because _I'm_ a vegetarian." Bilbo stated. "And that fact alone should explain how dangerous your situation is." But seeing their blank expressions, perplexed by the statement, Bilbo continued. "You've foolishly wandered into The Shire. A once beautiful land with hearty Hobbits always ready to give to strangers in need. But now, it's a cursed land and all those who wander within its perimeter are never seen again." Then he spread his arms widely and sarcastically said: "Welcome."


End file.
